Center-bearing for cars.



J. M. HOPKINS & P. M. ELLIOTT.

CENTER BEARING FOR (JARS.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 4, 1907.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913,

J. M. HOPKINS & P. M. ELLIOTT.

CENTER BEARING FOR CARS.

APPLIOATIONIILED HAR.4, 1907.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JAMES M. HOPKINS AND PERCY M. ELLIOTT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CENTER-BEARING FOR CARS.

l hostess.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1 9t Application filed March 4, 1907. Serial No. 360,323.

To all 4127mm 1 if may, concern:

lie it known that, we, Janus M. HOPKINS and liciu'r .d. liLLlUTl.eitizeuso't theUnited States, residing: at Chicagrm'in the county of(ooh and State oi Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in (enter-Bearings for Cars, of which we do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear. and exact description, referei'ice beinghad to the accompanyii'ig drawings, forming part of this specification.

The present invention has relation to that class of eei'iter bearingsfor railway cars in which upper and lower bearing plates or members areemployed with interposed hearing rollers or liKP anti-friction meansbetween said n'ieinbers.

()ne object of this invention is to improve such type of center hearingso that the danger of separation of the uppe and lower bear-in; platesincident tothe lifting or tilting: of the body may be avoided.

Another object oi the invention is to improve the center hearing! sothat there shall be a more uniform disposition of the strain incident tothe load imposed upon the members of the bearinr: and so that theliability of the breakage and excessive wear of the parts of the bearingshall be avoided.

The invention consists in the features 0 improvement hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularlydefined in the claims at. the end of this s 'ieciiieation.

Figure l is an inverted plan view of the upper member oi our improvedcenter bearin showing it in position within the retaining plate. Fig. 3is a view in' central vertical section through the upper and lowermembers of the bearing and through the retaining plate encireling theupper member, one oi the intermediate rollers being shown in seetion andanother of said rollers being shown in elevation. Fin. 3 is a detailplan view of the lower member or plate, a portion being l)1()l((ll away.Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are views similar to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 repectively butshowing a somewhat modified form ot our invention.

ll'ith railway vars, it is frequently desir able, as when makingrepairs, or replacing parts, to jack up the body of the car and withcenter bearing plates of prior construetions this jacking up of the carbody necessarily lifted or disconnected the upper member of the centerbearing from the. lower plate or member with the result that the rollersor antid'rictiou devices between these members were apt to becomedisarrangeiil or assume an improper relation when the parts wererestored to working position. So also, with certain types of freightcars it is frequently desirable to lift or tilt the body of the car inorder to discharge its load and such lifting or tilting of the body ofthe car War apt to separate the upper and lower bean ing plates andpermit the bearing rollers or like intermediate anti-friction devices toret out of proper relation when the parts were restored to normalposition.

Our present invention contemplates pr viding upper and lower bearingplates or members that shall be interlocked against accidentalseparation when the car body is lifted or tilted.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide center bearings for railwayears with interposed anti -tricti0n rollers having smooth. conical faresand it has also heretofore proposed to provide such antifriction rollerswith long guard teeth extending from end to end thereof. With such priorconstructions, however, it has been found that the severe strainsincident.

to the peculiar movements of. the car were apt to force the conicalrollers into a grinding contact against the flange of the center bearingthat encircles the outer ends of the rollers and the friction occasionedby the bearing of the outer ends of the rollers against such encirclingflange tended to produce a distortion and uneven wear of the rollers asthe bearing members turned with respect. to each other. Our inventioncontemplates providing means whereby a uniform action of the bearingrollers shall occur 1iotwithst-anding the severe strains to which themembers are necessarily subjected under conditions of ordinary usage.

In the drawings A designates a. retaining 'plate or frame that will beattached to the underside of the body bolster of the car;

this retaining plate orfranie A is preferably forn'iedwith a polygonalopening and by preference, also, the edge of this opening is reinforcedby depending flange u. 'ithin the opening of the retaining plate A willset the upper bearing plate or member A that is preferably of polygonalshape to correspond with the polygonal opening of the plate, or frame A.It is manifest. however, that instead of forming the plate A with a beenpolygonal opening and the upper member A of corresponding polygonaloutline, any other suitable means could-; be employed to secure theseparts together in such manner as to prevent their relative movement whenno position for use.- The upper plate or member A is formed with aninclined beari log surface and a correspondingly inclined bearingsurface 18 formed upon the lower member B. These members A. and B areinterlocked to guard against their vertical separation and thisinterlocking of the members A also provided respectively with flanges aand b which are formed about the openings (1. and I) through which thecenter pin or king-bolt will pass. Between lower members A and 13 willbe interposed suitable anti-friction devices, conigal anti-frictionrollers C but so far as concerns that part of our invention whichrelates to the interlocking of the upper and lower members A and B, theprecise character of the anti-friction devices is not esscntial;

When the parts are to .c placed together for use, lugs a of the uppermember-A will be passed through the openings or cut-away spaces 6 of themember B and the upper member A will then be turned a quarter ofrevolution so that the lugs a shall securely interlock with the flange bof the lower member and thus hold the members,

against separation in vertical direction. The upper member A" will thenbe set within the retaining plate or frame A. It will be seen that whenthe parts are in this position, which is their normal operative p osi-,

tion, the .car body can be lifted or tilted without danger of,disarranging the position of the bearing rollers (fl with respect tothe upper and lower members A and B, but when it becomes necessary toseparate these bearing members, the upper member A can be turned aquarter of a revolution and to an abnormal position so as to permit itslugs a? to be withdrawn through the openii L t of the member B. While innormal position there is but a comparatively slight relative revolutionof: the upper and lower bearing members and hence there is 'noanyaccidental separat on of the danger of and B is elfected through themedium of flanges orprojections extending be tween these parts.

the upper and preferablyv parts whereby these members are "inter locked;but by turning the upper member "to an abnormal position (say a quarterof a revolution) which can, be done when the uppcrntcmber is freed fromits retaining plate, the upper and lower members are readily separable.

in order to insure a uniform distribution of strain and load upon therollers C, these rollers are formed with teeth 0 extending to both endsthereof and adapted to mesh with corresponding teeth a and I) formedrcspectively upon the bearing surfaces of the upper member A and thelower member B. Notwithstanding the provision of these teeth between theanti-friction rollers C and the upper and lower members A and B,.thereis a tendency of the rollers to work outward and grind against theretaining flange b of the lower member ll and such hearing or grindingof the ends of the rollers against the flange b necessarily results inan unequal and improper action of the rollers as the upper and lowermembers A and Il turn =with respect to each other. To guard against thiswe provide an interlocking groove-and-rib arrangement between therollers and the upper and lower bearing members and preferably to thisend the bear ing faces of the upper and lower members A and B are formedrespectively with the annular ribs 11 and b to engage in peripheralgrooves 0 formed in the rollers C about the centers of their axiallengths. 3y this arrangement the teeth extcndinglengthwise andsubstantially from end to end of the rollers C insure a uniform bearingof the rollers under the severe strains to which the partsare subjectedwhile the rib-andgroove interlock between the rollers C and the bearingmembers hold the rollers against longitudinal movement and so preventtheir bearing against the out-er flange of the lower member whichhearing would tend to throw them outof axial line. In the form of theinvention illustrated upon Sheet 2 of the drawings, the retaining plateA is the same in construction as that hereinbefore described but theinterlocking pending flange at its outer edge, but the lower member B-isformed with a plain annular upwardlyextending flange b which inclosesthe outer ends of therollers C. It will beauties-stood that in placingthe parts Cit last described in position for use, of the upper memberwill be passed through the openings 1) ot'the lower member and the uppermember A will then be turned a quarter of a revolution .50 that the lugsa shall securely interlock with the circular flanges b and hold themembers against separation.

It is manifest that the precise details of construction above set forthmay be varied without departure from the spirit of the invention andthat features of the invention may be employed without. its adoption asan entirety.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent,

1. A center bearing for railway cars comprising upper and lower bearingmembers provided with means for holding them against vertical separationand a retaining 'plate adapted to receive the upper bearing member andhold said member against revolution while permitting it to be disengagedfrom said plate in vertical direction.

A center bearing for railway cars comprising upper provided withinterlocking means for holding said members against vertical separationwhile in normal position but permitting said members to be separatedwhen one of them is turned to abnormal position and means adapted to befixed beneath the car for engaging the upper member, said means servingto hold said upper member against revolution while permitting itto passfrom engagement therewith in vertical direction.

3. A center bearing for railway cars comprising upper and lower bearingmembers having interlocking flanges to hold the members against verticalseparation and intermediate anti-friction devices and a retaining platehaving an opening of irregular. outline to i 'eceive the upper bearingmem-' her, said re .aining plate serving to hold said upper memberagainst revolution while permitting it to be withdrawn from the plate invertical direction.

r- A center bearing for railway cars comprising upper and lower bearingmembers,

intermediate anti-friction devices and a retaining plate having anopening to receive the lugs (a and lower bearing members the upperbearing member, the edge of said opening being reinforced by a flange.

A bearing for railway cars comprising upper and lower members havingbearing surfaces and provided with means for bolding said membersagainst vertical separation, anti-friction rollers interposed betweenand engaging said bearing surfaces, and a retaining device engaging oneof said members to hold the same against horizontal movement whilepermitting a vertical movement independent of said retaining device.

(3. A center bearing for railway cars comprising upper and lower membershaving inner and outer, annular, overlapping flanges apd conical,toothed,. bearing surfaces intermediate said inner and outer annularflanges, and a circular series of independent. toothed, conical rollersinterposed between said upper and lower members and having the toothedsurfaces thereof in bearing and rolling bearing surfaces of saidmembers, said rollers and said members having an annular rib and grooveinterlock formed uponthe toothed bearing surfaces thereof andintermediate the ends of said rollers for holding the latter againstmovement in axial direction, substantially as described.

7. A center bearing'for railway cars comprising upper and lower membershaving toothed, conical bearing'suritaces and provided with overlappingflanges having interlocking lugs and notches for holding said membersagainst vertical separation, said lugs and notches being arranged toregister to permit. the separation of said members when one of themembers is turned to an abnormal posit.ion, a circular series ofindependent, toothed, conical rollers interposed between and in rollingcontact with said toothed bearing surfaces, and a retaining device forholding one of said members against horizontal movement, but arranged topermit the independent vertical movement thereof.

-JAMES M; HOPKINS. PERCY M. ELLIOTT.

VVit-nesses RUDOLPH A. Woman, W, W. Darrow.

contact with the toothed

